- 16. 2020
OATMEAL COOKIES WITH RAISINS
Gluten and Lactose-Free
Make it with gluten and lactose if you want
Oven temperature - 350 F
24 to 26 cookies
The other day out of the blue our daughter texts us all and says, “I had an oatmeal cookie with raisins and I loved it.” I knew she has this thing about raisins and was surprised that she had even tried a cookie with raisins! Her brothers were like, “what, you never had an oatmeal cookie with raisins? Amma, (that is “mother” in Sinhala, my native tongue, which is what the children call me) used to make them all the time!” Catharine only had the chocolate chip cookies that I would make at the same time and the boys and her papa never noticed it.
Anyway, I had gotten out of the cookie making mode for a while and decided that I should go back to it, and bake some gluten-free oatmeal cookies. They were so very delicious. I hope you will bake some yourself.
They are a little bit dryer than regular oatmeal. We don’t mind at all. If you want the cookies to be less dry, try doubling the fat content. That should do it.
If you find that your dough mixture is too dry when you try to form balls, add a little bit more fat, or 2 T of milk or water. Also leaving the dough to sit covered on the counter for about an hour will help the dough get moister by letting the dry stuff absorb the wet stuff.
You can make cookies, or you can make ice cream sandwiches if that is your pleasure, add about 3 T milk or water to the dough. Also, flatten the dough so the cookies are about ¼” thick rather than little less than ½” as for cookies. You want the cookies for the ice cream sandwiches to be less brittle.
If you don’t have or want almond meal, add the same amount in oats by weight to the dough.
The Recipe:
All-purpose gluten-free flour blend - 210 g (I used bob’s 1 to 1 baking flour)
Xanthan gum - 1 t
Baking powder - 1 t
Baking soda - 1 t
Kosher salt - ¾ t
White sugar - 100 g
Almond meal - 28 g
Old fashioned rolled oats - 222 g
Brown sugar - 218 g
Raisins - 40 g (optional - 20 g chocolate chips plus 20 g raisins)
Crisco (butter flavored) - 140 g (optional unsalted butter if your tummy is fine with it)
Eggs - 100 g, out of the shell at room temperature
Pure vanilla - 1 t
Apple cider vinegar - 1 t
Let’s get cooking:
First thing, measure out what you need and set aside.
Whisk flour blend, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, kosher salt, and white sugar in a large bowl.
Add the old fashioned oats and whisk to blend.
Sift the brown sugar through a strainer right into the bowl with the other dry stuff. (fine mesh will not work here) this is the easiest way to get rid of the lumps, (or you can use the back of a spoon or a fork or whatever to get rid of the lumps) whisk to mix well.
Add the butter flavored Crisco and mix in with your clean hands so all the dry stuff is now incorporated with the fat.
Whisk eggs, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar together and add to the flour mixture. Stir with a wooden or metal spoon until all the dry stuff is now damp.
Get the sheet pans ready by lining with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Measure out 2 Tablespoons of cookie dough onto your hand and roll into a ball. (if you decide to measure the dough it’s about 50 g per cookie) place the dough balls on the cookie sheets about 3” apart. Using the flat bottom of a measuring cup or a glass squish the dough balls into discs a little less than ½ ” thick.
Start the oven to preheat to 350 F and place the cookie sheets in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Remove cookie sheets from the freezer and place them in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown all over. Cookies will be soft to the touch. Let them harden on the baking sheet for 10 minutes and then move to a cooling rack and cool completely.
What you don’t eat right away put into a zip lock bag and freeze. Next when you are ready to have a yummy warm cookie, take out of the freezer and zap in the microwave for 10 seconds each.
Serve with tea, coffee, milk lemonade.
I like to make ice cream sandwiches by placing Lactaid ice cream in between two cookies. I make the cookies about ¼” thick and bake them 10 to 12 minutes for making ice cream sandwiches. Soften the ice cream a little and place one or two scoops in between two cookies then refreeze before using.
Ahh, how sublime!
Enjoy!